Have you ever been sitting in exactly the right place at the right time?  Here is a good one for the Grammy and Grampy history book.  A recent visit to Pagosa Springs,  Colorado was filled with mountains (hehe, I couldn’t resist) of wonders and blessings.  On day one, joined by our Colorado family members, we began scouting out the best position to see the Hot Air Balloon launch happening as part of Winterfest in Pagosa.  It was supposed to be quite near where we were staying and scheduled to start right after breakfast.

The “boots on the ground” research completed by our sweet daughter in law revealed that one balloon was preparing to launch right outside our back door!!  Hal-le-lujah! 

We donned coats, hats, boots, mittens, and dragged a couple blankets out to the picnic table outside the door.  We happily positioned ourselves for front row seats to the launch.  This was going to be the best day ever, we were so close!!!

To our mild trepidation, a friendly but official looking fellow approached us soon after we settled in.  How did we know he was friendly?  He had a big smile on his face, and the lining of his aviator hat was zebra patterned fleece.  However, cool hat or not, I am thinking, we are too close to the balloon, he is going to ask us to move……….mannnnnnn………..we had a front row seat!!!

As he approached us, he asked if anyone was in charge of the small children lined up stadium style on the picnic table. We said, yes, we are the Mom and the Grammy of these four wonderful little souls.  It was hard not to smile back at this very cheerful man.  He had such a big grin on his face, I was thinking – he is the perfect enforcer for getting the “too close” people to move.  I was getting prepared to ask him where a suitable place to sit might be where we could still see the action.

Hmmmm……..I am still learning not to jump to my own conclusions……….the zebra man proceeds to ask if we would give permission for the children to get a free balloon ride!!!!  He assured us that the balloon would be tethered to the ground, only go up fifty to 100 feet, and it was going to be perfectly safe.  What did we think?

Our 9 year old exclaimed, “A balloon ride has been on my bucket list since I was 5!!”  Of course, we quickly recovered from our speechless shock at such good fortune, said yes amidst hoots, hollers,  and giggles, and had a miraculous start to a miraculous week together.

Here is a couple pictures of the experience.  Thanks Zebra man.  (By the way, they really call these guys Zebras.  The zebra clothing is a must at a balloon festival, they are the ground masters and the zebra clothing makes them very visible and easily identifiable.)  How cool is this???  Truth be told, “cool” isn’t a big enough word.  I prefer the term Miracle.

So, after I finished reading this post to Grampy tonight, he started singing this song. Personally I think the Fifth Dimension might’ve done a slightly better job. 😂